Going Gently Into Nightmare

The most persistent example of South Africa's regression is its repressive state of emergency, now in its eighth week. More than 200 people have died, and more than 3,400 are missing or detained.

Yet President Reagan's stubborn policy of constructive engagement has done little but to try to coax the South African government to end this severe curtailment of civil rights.

In fact, a strong sign that Mr. Reagan is speaking too softly now comes from his own administration. Even as the president delivered his latest address on the matter July 22, the U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state for human rights was touring South Africa and coming up with distressing news. His report released last week: Human-rights abuses have steadily increased during the state of emergency, in particular more detentions without trial and increasing mistreatment and torture of prisoners.

Even worse, it appears that the South African government is unraveling landmark reforms that were introduced just this year. These include restoring citizenship to blacks and easing restrictions on where blacks can work or live.

Now official South African government statements indicate that the vast majority of the 10 million blacks living in the so-called independent homelands will not regain South African citizenship. That shameful decision automatically will regulate the movement of these blacks to other parts of South Africa by requiring them to carry special passes that show where they may live and work. Most will remain bound to the economic misery of the homelands.

And consider this: The South African government plans to strip more black South Africans of their citizenship in December. That's when a new homeland called KwaNdebele becomes independent. Thus hundreds of thousands of blacks will become aliens in their own country.

In contrast to Mr. Reagan's feeble policy, the United States could show its disapproval by adding tougher economic sanctions to measures the president approved last year. Granted, the sanctions could have more of a political and symbolic effect than economic -- South Africa has a strong enough economy to withstand sanctions -- but at least it would be a tough political statement.

By imposing harsher sanctions, the United States could more forcefully discourage the South African government from guaranteeing apartheid a future.